I recall a documentary discussing the large Hadron collider, the study of the first moments following the big bang, and the potential concern for the creation of black holes. Is it theoretically possible for an amateur physicist to build their own on a smaller scale?
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> and the potential concern for the creation of black holes
This was never really a serious concern. When cosmic rays (high-energy particles from the sun or elsewhere) hit the upper atmosphere, the collisions sometimes have higher energies than those produced in the LHC, so any particles that are made in the LHC should regularly appear naturally in earth’s atmosphere. This fact sometimes leads people to question why it was necessary to build the LHC – well, unfortunately, vast machines are needed to observe the particle collisions, and it’s much easier to study collisions that are created under controlled conditions than ones that happen at random places and times.
It has been hypothesized that tiny black holes can be created in high-energy collisions, but if so, again, there must be loads of them being created in the upper atmosphere, and evidently they don’t swallow the earth – either they remain tiny, or they disappear. And nobody really knows for sure if tiny black holes are even a thing – it’s little more than a guess.
> Is it theoretically possible for an amateur physicist to build their own on a smaller scale?
There are plenty of simpler particle physics experiments you can do by yourself. For example, it’s possible to build your own cloud chamber. Or you could play around with a cathode ray tube (the thing that makes old TVs work), which is essentially a very basic particle accelerator. Obviously make sure to carefully research the appropriate safety precautions first, though.
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